cave
were very uneven at this point. They got behind a projection, and by
crawling up a rocky ledge managed to reach a point above and to one side
of the runabout and not over a dozen feet from it.

"Then you weren't going to stop here, Merrick?" asked the man leaning
against the wheel.

"Not now, Dangler," was the reply of the man with the pipe. "The storm
drove us in here."

"When do you expect to meet this Randolph Rover?"

"Very soon."

"He ought to be easy--he is so simple minded."

"Oh, I think we can work him right enough," put in the third man, who
was tall and thin-cheeked.

"Well, if you do, don't forget that I get my share, Pike," said the man
called Dangler.

"Haven't you always gotten your share?" demanded Pike.

"I suppose I have."

"And haven't we given you the information whenever any valuable freight
was coming this way?" put in the man called Merrick.

"Yes, and got your full share of the proceeds, while I ran the risk,"
growled Dangler. "It's getting dangerous--I'm going to quit--after the
next big haul," went on the man with the pipe.

"All right--as you wish," answered Merrick. "I wish this storm would let
up. The road will be something fierce for our runabout."

"And bad for my wagon," growled Dangler in return.

The boys listened to the conversation with deep interest. The reference
to their uncle amazed them, and they wondered what the two men in the
runabout had in mind to do. By their talk it was evident they meant to
accomplish something unlawful.

"They are going to play Uncle Randolph some trick," whispered Sam. "We
must get home and warn him."

"What we ought to do is to have the whole crowd arrested," answered Tom.
"They are all implicated in the theft of freight."

"That's the talk," said Dick. "The question is, How can we do it? We are
no match for those three men, and more than likely they are armed."

After this the three men conversed in such a low tone the boys could not
hear a quarter of what was said. But they learned enough to know that
Merrick and Pike were going to meet their uncle and play him false in
some way, and they heard the words "traction bonds" and "coupons"
several times.

"Uncle Randolph had ten thousand dollars' worth of traction company
bonds," said Dick. "He bought them only a short while ago. They pay five
and a half per cent. interest and he thought them a first-class
investment."

"Oh, we'll have to warn him," said Sam. "He is so open